TEL AVIV (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Israel's president to grant him a pardon during his long-running corruption trial that’s bitterly divided the country.

In a statement Sunday the prime minister’s office said that Netanyahu had submitted a request for a pardon to the legal department of the Office of the President. The president's office called it an “extraordinary request,” carrying with it “significant implications.”

Netanyahu is the only sitting prime minister in Israeli history to stand trial, after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases accusing him of exchanging favors with wealthy political supporters. He has not yet been convicted of anything.

The request comes weeks after U.S. President Donald Tr

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